Anyone in these states? And opinions...

Southern Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas?

I hate planning travel routes. Just saying. But if you bring up Great Falls to Memphis, TN, it gives you three options in Google Maps. I'm basically trying to figure out which way to go. There aren't huge differences except area. And I am having a hard time trying to find out if there is any road construction, flooding, or anything else in these areas.

If I go south through Wyoming and east through Nebraska, not only are there more stops in Nebraska, but the layout is almost perfect: Great Falls to Cheyenne is 10 hours, Cheyenne to Kansas City is 10 hours, and then Kansas City to Memphis is 8 hours. 3 days easy with two nights of plenty of rest.

Going through South Dakota, though, there isn't much there at all. But, it also sets up similarly so it almost wouldn't matter. Great Falls to Rapid City is 9ish hours, Rapid City to Souix Falls is 8 hours, Omaha to Memphis is 11 hours.

Then, I have the option to go east to St. Louis from Kansas City and south on I-55 to Memphis...or wander around in Missouri and Arkansas on smaller roads through Springfield, MO. It adds little to no time either way, and I'm extremely familiar with both areas.

Three different options, and I can't decide on any of them. Because I'm an extremely indecisive person. :lol-sign:

Does anyone know if Omaha is still a mess with construction? Any other roads or cities on these routes that you know of that are going through construction or anything else?

St Louis, there is construction but not on highways you would be taking through. I of course recommend that route Or honestly, I love driving through southwestern MO and northwestern AR, the Ozarks are so pretty!

No flooding for sure, we are DRY...rivers are actually so low barges are having issues.

Yeah, I am definitely thinking on going the I-55 route through St. Louis. I enjoy the hills and all, but Arkansas and Missouri steals my soul every time I go through there! So...boring...lol. Just an endless line of trees on either side of the road. And after three days of driving, I don't think I'll be able to stand it!

we are an hour from omaha and its not bad with construction as far as I know

also got to the DOT site for each state, they should list construction, flooding, road damage, closed roads ect

Better than driving through Illinois (St. Louis to Chicago), so flat you can see your neighbor coming to visit next week... We usually jump on I-255 to avoid going through St. Louis/East St. Louis (depends on the time, too - rush hour is a pain), easier for us to just circumvent the whole area.

If I'm not on a time schedule, I love driving the back roads, rather than the highways. Going to the Twins Festival in Ohio, I think we've covered every back road up towards Cleveland, trying to avoid highway construction. Found lots of pretty little towns to gawk at on the way.

You aren't kidding about Illinois. When I was a kid and still living in Memphis, we used to make at least one or two trips a year north to see family in the Terre Haute and Chicago areas. We would stop at the Flying J right at the border from Missouri(? foggy memory)...and from then on out it was SO SLOW.

We only have a little under 2 weeks, so we are sort of on a time schedule. I don't want to spend more than 3 days traveling there or back(6 days total), so I'm trying to find the most efficient route.

Never thought about the DOT sites. Thanks for the tip!

Last time I was in Omaha was last year in July/August. It was SO terrible. We spent at least 4 hours trying to get out of that mess. It has left it's impression. Lol It won't be nearly as bad if they've finished construction and it isn't halfway under water.

They are still working on the bridge on I80 going into Council Bluffs, but its not slowing anything down. And all the water has finally went away!

Hm. Not so bad then.

Sorta wondering if I should go ahead and go through Nebraska anyway, though. There's tons of rest areas and stops along the way. Every couple hours after Cheyenne, actually. Sidney, Grand Island, Lincoln. And I've never seen Wyoming during the day, since we've always been through during the night.

Although, eastern Montana has a loverly 80mph speed limit, as opposed to southern Montana back roads until we get to Cheyenne. And from what I saw of South Dakota, it was pretty. Spearfish wasn't a bad stop, either. Once I get to Sioux Falls, there's plenty of stops.